Garbage Island
by The Lady Avaritia
Summary: But it was in no way an insult to Dan's name. After all, Tsunade had never loved Orochimaru.


**Title: Garbage Island**

**Rating: **T  
><strong>Spoilers: <strong>general

**Characters**: Sannin  
><strong>Summary: <strong>But it was in no way an insult to Dan's name. after all, Tsunade had never loved Orochimaru.

**Disclaimer: **disclaimed

**Author Note:** A dramatic little piece for my favorite pairing. Review to tell me how much it sucks.

**Author: **_Lady Avaritia_

_You say you want to know her like a lover  
>And undo her damage, she'll be new again<br>Soon you'll find that if you try to save her  
>It will lose her anger<br>You will never win_

_~The Pierces, Three Wishes_

the silence hung cold and heavy in the air. The damp grey walls offered little comfort and the ugly worn-out green couches were more like monstrous torture devices than furniture. Of course, that could be just the fatigue, and anger, and sadness talking, and the general sense of gloom.

Whatever the reason, Orochimaru wasn't going to damage his spine any further on the couch/torture device. With an almost liquid movement he got up and started pacing the waiting room.

They hadn't allowed neither him, nor Jiraiya to go and see Tsunade. And he wanted to see her so badly. He needed to see her.

He began pacing, his sandals tapping dully on the cracked terracotta floor. As he passed a half-dead plant, he made a mental note to remind the Sandaime that the hospital was in a devastating condition.

'Stop doing that,' Jiraiya called from where he was sprawled on one of the leather armchairs that were just as ugly and uncomfortable as the couches, with their stuffing sticking from cracks in the leather. How his white-haired teammate had managed to twist himself into a remotely comfortable position was beyond the snake-sannin. Even he couldn't alter his bone structure that much.

'Why won't they let me see her,' the pale man demanded angrily.

'Doctor's orders,' Jiraiya smiled a little sheepishly. 'I want to see her too, okay? I mean, Dan just died and she's gonna need us, but let's give the medics a little breathing space to fix her up, huh?'

'I know, I know…,' Orochimaru sighed. 'It's just that… I found her, you know.'

Yes, Jiraiya knew. When Orochimaru had walked in the hospital, wet with rain and blood, and collapsed Tsunade in his hands, it had been quite attention-grabbing.

But Jiraiya didn't interrupt him.

'She was so desperate. He was obviously dead, and she kept trying to bring him back…in all honesty, I hate him.'

'Dan? You can't hate someone for dying!'

'Yes, but I can hate him for hurting her and making her cry,' Orochimaru hissed.

'I can hate him for that too,' Jiraiya agreed solemnly. 'I never did like him anyway.'

'Should better not note on that in her presence,' his teammate remarked, then added 'neither did I.'

'A bit too dull,' Jiraiya continued. 'I always thought it would be one of us, you know…'

he paused for a moment.

'I always thought it would be you,' he added a little bitterly. 'Tall dark and handsome,' he laughed, and Orochimaru laughed too, mirthlessly. 'I mean,' Jiraiya continued, 'you are all mysterious and seductive, and suave, and you have that… darkness that surrounds you…chicks dig that kind of thing…as you can see.'

A pretty enough blonde nurse came towards them. It was pretty obvious that she'd just fixed her hair and make-up. She had a plastic cup of cheap coffee from the machine in one hand.

'Would you like some, Orochimaru-sama? I thought it would be good, since you're probably tired…' she trailed off uncertainly, and blushed, looking down.

'Than you very much,' Orochimaru said rather coldly, 'Perhaps you would like to bring my friend there one too?' he arched an eyebrow.

The nurse cast Jiraiya a quick glance.

'Of course, of course,' she hurried away.

'I'm tired of getting your cast-offs,' the toad sannin complained.

'You have enough fan girls of your own,' his snake comrade replied levelly.

'Most of them are underage!' Jiraiya exclaimed.

'; Has it ever stopped you? It's not my fault that mature women prefer me over you. In fact, I should say that it's very much your fault for being so childish. Real women just don't 'dig' that.'

'Orochimaru-sama,' another nurse, an aging, tall and bony woman that looked tired and bored, and dusty like the rest of the place, called.

He turned around sharply.

'Yess?'

'She wants to see you now.' Jiraiya got up.

'Not you, I'm afraid, Jiraiya-sama. Only Orochimaru-sama.'

Jiraiya shot him a confused questioning look, but his friend just shrugged.

Tsunade was pale, and there were rings under her eyes. She seemed old, for some reason, old and very tired. And so, so pale. Compared to her skin, the sheets looked grey. She was almost as pale as him.

'Orochimaru,' she whispered. Traitorous tears were slowly making their way out of the corners of her eyes.

He edged closer to the bed and put a hand on her shoulder.

'I know… I'm sorry.'

She cracked an eye open and smiled sadly.

'What for?'

'If I'd been there earlier…''

'no… no… I'm sorry.'

'Tsunade' he caught her chin between his long spidery fingers and made her look him in the eye.

'This is in no way your fault. You did your best, but you team was delayed…you couldn't have saved him…'

'No… I'll be sorry about that too. Just not now. I don't want to think about that now. I'm apologizing to you…I'll ask you for something selfish.'

'Anything, if it will help…anything.'

'You haven't even heard me yet…'

'It doesn't matter… you know that there is very little I can refuse to you.'

'I want you to kiss me… and then…hold me…and… I just… I know that I want too much but…but I need this. I need to know that I'm real and that I exist and wouldn't just melt away in the dark…'

he looked at her, for a moment, his face empty of all emotion.

'I know this is wrong,' she continued, 'and I know that…'

'Tsunade do you love me?' he interrupted sharply.

'What?' she asked startled.

'D you love me? Just answer, please…'

'You know how good a friend you are to me…'

'Tsunade!'

'No, Orochimaru. I don't love you. Not like that.'

'I know. So then, you are not staining his memory. If you do that with me, with someone you don't love, then it doesn't matter because you still love him, and probably always will…' he trailed off, a broken smile etching itself on his face. It looked more like a grimace of pain than anything.

'Jiraiya must never know,' she said softly.

'No,' Orochimaru agreed. 'Because this would cut him, it would hurt him, he wouldn't understand. But I do. I understand. I'm not judging you.'

'I just want… I want to give my soul wings and let it fly away from me like a bird and never, ever come back, so I would never ever have to hurt again,' she whispered brokenly.

'I know… I know…'

he kissed her on the lips softly, gently. His fingertips danced across her skin. Color returned to her cheeks.

He walked out of the room an hour later, fully dressed, looking as every bit as cold and unemotional as before.

'She's sleeping,' he told Jiraiya. 'She's very, very sad, and very tired.'

Somehow he thought Jiraiya understood.

But it was in no way an insult to Dan's name. after all, Tsunade had never loved Orochimaru.

_You want never bitter  
>And all delicious<br>And a clean conscience  
>And all its blisses<em>

_~The Pierces, Three Wishes_


End file.
